O Yea... Pictures!!

So we are having a really hard time getting the pictures on facebook, so i thought that i would try to put a couple up on here so you can see some of the Awesomeness!!

Our first little family vacation....

So after the new year celebrations, we took a little trip to Siem Reap, the little town that is next to Angkor Wat temple complex. We left on Thursday morning at 8:30, using the bus system to get to our destination which lay 6 hours away. We arrived at the bus station filled with people trying to sell things like news papers and sunglasses. I would like to skip this next story, but I think you would all be missing out if I did not tell it. So there we are, me and Meghan, Gabi and the Sheehys, waiting for the bus, already bought our newspapers, when the sunglass man eyes me. I’m always interested in good deals, so I ask how much for the "Raybans". BIG MISTAKE!!!! He tells me they are $6 dollars a pair, which is very high, seeing as I bought my other pair (since I left my good ones at home, another mistake...) for only $3. I tell him no, but then he asks me what I would pay, And I told him that I would like two pair for 4 dollars, thinking that this was not the deal he was looking for, and that he would just find the next tourist looking person and bother them. Nope. He didn’t. He stayed right there and argued with me that I should pay $6 for two. "Ott thday, Ogune!!" I say, meaning No thank you... and he keeps on. I don’t really want these, I just wanted to see if I could get a bargain. By now the whole team is looking at us laughing, and Im thinking of ways to get this guy to find another dude, no luck. Meghan says "if we go inside the bus station office, he cant follow us." great plan! Dash! So now we are chilling in the A/C waiting for the bus to leave. Not being bothered by the nice man selling sunglasses. O wait, there he is, at the glass door, just waiting for us. Im about ready to pay him $15 dollars to leave me alone. I look at him and hold up four fingers, and he shakes his head. Fine, you talked me into it, Ill buy them for that great bargain. Four for two. I get the sunglasses. Hurray. Come on bus, hurry up and Load before the newspaper guy comes over. Im sure by now the sunglass man has told them that we will buy anything if we are pestered enough! So the bus loads and we are off. It was a great ride, nice to be in the A/C, and me and Meghan realize that its the first time in a month that we have been inside an actual vehicle. This nice bus also has a Bathroom. This nice bus has A/C. This nice bus has TVs. This nice bus also has great brakes. The brakes work great when they slam on to dodge the cow in the road, this also takes place when I am standing up facing the wrong way so my wife can take her seat again. I have a yellow leg. This nice bus also has great armrests that break your rapid approach to the front of the bus. This nice bus has a tour guide that looks at me like I just cheated death. Everyone on the bus gasps because I almost flew, except my wife who is curled over laughing, and I love her. We get to our wonderful hotel, and its amazing swimming pool, and get ready for our early morning adventure. We are being picked up at 4:30 to drive to the famous Angkor Wat temples. I dont remember the drive out there very well, except that it was pitch black and cold. Its funny how your body changes after just one month, pretty much everything but standing in the sun is cold to me, its sooo weird, its not that hot here, its just that there is no relief. Ever. Unless you go to lucky supermarket and stand by the freezer section and "debate" about which frozen fish we are "buying". So we arrive, and pay and get our passes. They take your picture, mostly because they like to have a good laugh at the people who look half dead at 4:45 in the morning, but there is also a rumor about how its so no one can steal your pass. We get somewhere, and the tuk tuk driver says that we walk that way, in the pitch dark. I really feel like im in a movie now, walking in the dark down some ancient pathway. Its dark, except for the nice people that check your passes, and how are they gonna know its you unless they shine the flashlight in your face and look at the photo that makes you look like a serial killer??? Keep walking. Meghan asks me if I know where we are headed, nope, no idea, but we are on a bridge now, and there is water on both sides, I know this only because there is that weird echo that only happens when your around water. I can see the people exiting the bridge, so we follow them to the front of this lake. There are some guys selling chairs, and lots of people lining up. I dont really want a chair, so we find a rock and sit. And wait. There are a ton of Japanese and Chinese tourists, its kinda weird to be with alot of tourist, but really just about the only Americans. Soon the sun starts to come, there has always been something romantic to me about the rising sun, the start of a new day, and to watch the light break over this old place makes it spectacular. The pictures are nothing compared to what it looks like. The sun peaks over the temples and I get some shots, but mostly just enjoy this amazing scene. Wow. So from there we start our self-guided tour. Looking at these amazing things done many years ago, we walk through temples, up temples and around temples. Soo many temples. The stairs are quite strange, almost ladder like. Dangerous, and this is not America, so if you feel inclined to climb them, you go for it. It was a ton of work to get to the top, but what a view. Gabi is with me and Meghan and points out something very profound. We dont have to work to get to our God, there are no stairs that we have to climb, He is with us. Wow. How powerful, all of this was built to be closer to God, when all along God just wanted to be closer to us. Powerful. We walk and look until we have used the batteries on all of the cameras, and head for a lunch and some shade. Shade is very important when your out in the mighty sun all day, its almost better than a glass of my moms iced tea on a hot day, almost. We found a little Cafe inside the Complex, and of course its really expensive, 6 dollars a plate. The group walks out, thinking we can get a better deal somewhere else. But the manager follows us out and tells us that he will make us a deal, 3 dollars a person for whatever we want. Yum! We get back to the hotel somewhere around 3 and realize that when you wake up at 4:30, you can get a heck of alot done by three. Also see really tired at three. Also see taking a nap for too long in the evening. Also see how to ruin your sleep schedule....
Much Love, Chris

Sorry for the break....

So its been quite awhile since we have been on here, sorry bout that! So I guess I should fill you all in on what has been happening since we last updated!
We had an amazing New Years party! For the weeks leading up to it we had been inviting all of our friends and kids in the classes that we teach to come! We figured we would have about 60 people, so with some help we started preparing for our party! The celebration not only is about the day of new year, but also about the "new life" that you begin. It is a time where you pay all of your debts, and forgive those who cannot pay you(sounds oddly familiar). There are certain things that you eat, like red watermelon seeds, Dried fruit, and coconut strings that are all kinds of colors. One of the most special things is the first person to enter your house after the new year. It is a big honor to be invited to visit someone on new years because in this culture, that means that you are the most upstanding person that they know. We were blessed with the honor of visiting a lady named Ha! We came to her house and brought her a gift and got to pray with her to bless her new year!!!! Hopefully we will be able to continue this relationship and get to bless this single mother even more! After our visit, we prepared for the party! The time that we set for the party was 3:00, but at 3:30 we had about three people there, and we were kind of thinking that this party was gonna be a bust, but we kept praying that people would come and by 3:45 we had a full house!!!(praise Jesus!!) We played games, and since its the year of the tiger, we played pin the tail on the tiger! It was soo fun, and the adults that came even got in on the action, and we just had a wonderful time laughing and enjoying the day. Joe invited an older friend, and since there was no translator, they walked around the kindergarten( where the party was held) and pointed to the vegetables they liked, sounds kind of silly, but I feel God is really moving in this relationship! After the art class that Gabi preformed a wonderful dance, we got ready to put on the drama we as a team had been preparing. We presented the story from Luke about the man with the two sons,(i think it might have another name, but that was the easy to translate name). It went over very well, and I think that God was able to use our terrible acting to get across the message of Gods wonderful unfailing love! Meghan had a blast with her role as a piggy! We spent the rest of the time just hanging out and eating very yummy new years snacks! Thank you Lord for making this happen. For the next couple of days, we did not do too much because of the New Year. Most of these people work 12 hours a day 6 days a week, so when the new year comes, they take a couple of weeks off for relaxation. We spent our time just hanging around the city and getting ready for our vacation! Next post.... The trip to Siem Reap!!!

Sports Saturday and The Rest of The Weekend!

Hey all!
What an amazing weekend! God just keeps opening doors and giving us both new opportunities to share and build relationships! Its Tuesday afternoon, and I am sitting in my room looking out the window on to the balcony. The hair school is in full swing, and I am having the joy of watching girls make their first cut as we speak. Its awesome to watch as Meghan teaches them how to cut hair, and shows them how to follow Jesus! We have had a great weekend, and I cannot wait to see what happens this week!

So on Saturday morning we had the first Sports Saturday! About 8:50 ten boys and two girls came, all full of energy and ready for fun! We loaded up, about 15 of us in two tuk-tuks and headed off to the Olympic Stadium! The Stadium is where the soccer team plays, they have a big soccer field, track and swimming pool and diving pool. We found a nice area and the soccer game started! We played for about an hour and after that we were pretty tired. We took a break from the game and walked into the giant soccer stadium, where there was a wonderful breeze! It was soo much fun, these boys are soo awesome, we had a great time just catching our breath and trying to communicate, some of them speak a little english, which is really nice! We walked over to the Olympic diving pool and watched some diving, then it was time to play some more! Gabi taught us all how to play a German Dodgeball like game, which was fun, except they put me and Meghan on opposing teams..... = trouble! Its not like we are competitive or anything....Yea, so we really got into this game, and the kids loved it! After this and a little more soccer, it was time to head back. We piled into the Tuk-tuks and drove home... all pretty exhausted! On the way home one of the boys asked me if we could study english together, and also if the team could come with him and his family to the water park during the Vietnamese New Year! It is soo great to get to build relationships with these kids! God is totally setting it up and we are so blessed to be a part of it! We were pretty tired the rest of the day and did not do too much, but I was asked if I could share at the house church on Sunday!

So we as we got ready for the house church, they asked if I could play the Guitar as well! It was pretty funny, watching me try and play songs as they sing in a different language, and keep the beat... it was alot of work, but so cool to be with other believers praising Jesus! I shared about the three stories that Jesus tells in Luke 15. These three stories are so powerful, each one by itself, but Jesus puts them all together. The first story is about a lost sheep, that the Shepherd leaves the 99 to find the lost 1. Jesus is saying that we are the lost sheep, and that whatever trouble we get ourselves into, He will come looking for us. He puts us above all, we are valued by him, and when He finds us, He rejoices! The second story is about a woman who looses a coin. Jesus is pointing out our value to Him, we are valued by the creator of the universe, and when He finds his prize, He rejoices! The last story is about a lost son. He illustrates that even when we leave Him, when we tell Him that we know better, and that we no longer need him, He waits. He does not hold a grudge, when He sees us walking towards Him, even from a long way off, He rejoices! He restores us to our position, His children, even when we dont deserve it! What an amazing God we have! Its sometimes difficult to share things like this through a translator, and its hard to judge if people are listening or just bored. I was praying that God would speak and that He would put everything I said into the right words, and when I had finished, one of the boys that was at sports day started asking some really deep questions about God and His love!! Wooo Hoo, God is soo cool, Im so happy that God is revealing himself to them!

So Monday was our free day, and we used it to get the last few things that the hairschool needed. We are really starting to get a handle on how to get things in the market! I promise that i will get that video uploaded of us going to the market this week! After the market, we found a little store a couple of blocks away and sat outside and had a coke and some yogurt. We then walked a couple miles to the Independence monument. It was really pretty and there were some really funny tourists from China, they were being so silly and having a great time. We walked to a little Indian food place, and had an amazing dinner! We then got a ride to the Mall and had some really good ice cream, wonderful way to end a awesome relaxing day or start another week of adventures!
Blessings and Love, Chris

Following pictures, a tuk-tuk and Independence monument: